Why does the front page image have the FFL in it? The Foreign Legion is a flagged armed service not Mercenaries.

That aside, small teams of highly skilled and crackers are certainly a threat. I wonder how Kaspersky Lab's found them? The detective work in finding Crackers is very interesting. Some of the hacks needed to find people are very intricate.

Building your own toolchain is neat and all, but I'd be much more interested if there were some evidence of possession of zero-days. As it stands, these guys are probably about on par with purchasers of Darkleech, Darkcomet, Reveton or similar in terms of capability.

So what tools are best to guard against this? If you're running Kaspersky, will you be protected?I appreciate there are a few bases to cover,1. Keeping your software up-to-date2. Running anti-virus, malware, trojan, rootkit and vulnerability* detection3. Web site reputations4. Firewall5. Discrete downloading/installation of software and viewing of documents6. ???

So what's the best way to protect oneself?

* vulnerability detection is similar to that in Kaspersky, where your system is monitored for vulnerabilities

So what tools are best to guard against this? If you're running Kaspersky, will you be protected?I appreciate there are a few bases to cover,1. Keeping your software up-to-date2. Running anti-virus, malware, trojan, rootkit and vulnerability* detection3. Web site reputations4. Firewall5. Discrete downloading/installation of software and viewing of documents6. ???

So what's the best way to protect oneself?

* vulnerability detection is similar to that in Kaspersky, where your system is monitored for vulnerabilities

Keep any software that reads data which originates from outside of your PC updated. That's really the most important part of this.

It looked a little weird to me as well. Typical journalistic style guides will have the numbers 0-9 written out, and then use numerals for 10 or greater. Thus, "six to 10".

I forget what the rules were when I worked as a professional transcriptionist but I always used "five to ten" and "10 to 15" and nobody ever complained. I agree that this looks weird, and I would have gone with "six to ten", myself...

Seriously? Pull the ethernet cable from the back of the box on which you store your sensitive information and remove all remaining networking hardware. Alternatively, and depending on resources, isolate a network of machines from the outside world - not every employee needs to be able to access Facebook in his lunch break. Another option, and in some cases less inconvenient than the two former scenarios: paper files. In all cases however, you better also have tight control over physical access to your facilities, or you may just as well not bother with any protection.

Seriously? Pull the ethernet cable from the back of the box on which you store your sensitive information and remove all remaining networking hardware. Alternatively, and depending on resources, isolate a network of machines from the outside world - not every employee needs to be able to access Facebook in his lunch break. Another option, and in some cases less inconvenient than the two former scenarios: paper files. In all cases however, you better also have tight control over physical access to your facilities, or you may just as well not bother with any protection.

Quite the pain in the ass, innit?

Jesus, it sounds like the *shudder* Twentieth Century! /sarcasm

Security ain't convenient, something folks forget all too often nowadays. Also, if a group like this has zero day attacks, they almost certainly save them for the times when the cheap Java exploit and equivalents don't work out. You use the minimum force necessary for an op, if you have a brain.

I wonder how many of these groups are state sponsored? They steal a lot of economic and presumably technological data, intellectual property etc - which if acted on, and presumably it is or why pay to steal it, adds to the economic value of a particular nation's companies and thus its economy. IOW highly effective small teams like this could be created to do dirty work for a country, whilst keeping a deniable distance.

More needs to be done to identify the customers... although I appreciate that must be hard-to-impossible.

Alright, Goodin, I'd love to see a suggested action plan article for tech security based on a person's socioeconomic standing targeted at those whom don't readily call tech support unless all attempts at genuine troubleshooting have come to no avail.

Tall order? I think not. Should you choose to accept this mission and fare well you will earn the continued accolades of your fellow tech writers, readers and be able to continue paying your bills on time. Book form is an option.

In some ways, the Icefog gang is the hacking equivalent of a highly skilled cat burglar who spends weeks or months learning where to find the diamonds and fine art in a targeted penthouse so he can break in, immediately steal them, and make a quick get-away.

Why does the front page image have the FFL in it? The Foreign Legion is a flagged armed service not Mercenaries.

I came in here to make this exact same comment. The Foreign Legion is not a mercenary organization in any sense of the word. They are a branch of the French military, under command of French officers in French command authority.

Modern private military companies, such as whatever the group formerly known as Blackwater is calling themselves now, Triple Canopy, et al are mercenaries.

So what tools are best to guard against this? If you're running Kaspersky, will you be protected?I appreciate there are a few bases to cover,1. Keeping your software up-to-date2. Running anti-virus, malware, trojan, rootkit and vulnerability* detection3. Web site reputations4. Firewall5. Discrete downloading/installation of software and viewing of documents6. ???

So what's the best way to protect oneself?

* vulnerability detection is similar to that in Kaspersky, where your system is monitored for vulnerabilities

This is all fine and good but the question is do they have psychopaths in ultralights to fly them in over Russia at night with all their decking gear? (Sorry some one had to make a Neuromancer joke with all this serious.)

This is all fine and good but the question is do they have psychopaths in ultralights to fly them in over Russia at night with all their decking gear? (Sorry some one had to make a Neuromancer joke with all this serious.)

Everyone knows the Mitsuhama/Shiawase targets were just mini trial runs to practice targeting the top corporation in the world Saeder-Krupp... oh wait..

In terms of payment I imagine them asking for bitcoins but in the form of a credstick! screw the coin design.

Considering that the NSA has probably recorded traffic generated by these groups, it's obvious that they aren't a priority even though the hacker groups probably have more impact on the nation's security than NSA observed-US-wanna-be terrorists have.

It would be nice to have the NSA rackup at least ONE successful anti-terrorist action for all the fucking money they've consumed over the years. NSA seems to be nothing more than a Congressional jobs program.

I wonder what the average salary is in these groups. Also, where do they advertise the job postings? On your desktop or in your email?

They hide a contact email address hidden deeply in their malware and under strong security. If you manage to detect the infection, break the security, and retrieve the address, you can write an email with the subject "I see you". They then find everything they can about you to make sure you are not some undercover agent and after that you receive an email with the subject "I see you too", which contains a job offer... Or they scourge around hacking circles where their friends hang out and can get in the team by invitation only, but I like my version better .

Why does the front page image have the FFL in it? The Foreign Legion is a flagged armed service not Mercenaries.

Yeah but generally it's someone else's flag they are fighting under. (though there are French members, as well, and as I understand the officers are French)

They aren't mercenaries for the purposes of the Geneva Conventions, but when speaking colloquially the term isn't necessarily inappropriate.

[qute]No they always fight under the French Flag. They are part of the French armed services.

They are generally made up of non-French citizens, but as they have a path to citizenship via service (the same as the US has for non-citizens serving in the US armed forces) that does not matter.

Which isn't -their- flag, because for the most part they aren't French yet. And incidentally, having a path to citizenship actually fulfills one of the criteria for being a mercenary, in that the compensation is greater than that of regular combatants.

Why does the front page image have the FFL in it? The Foreign Legion is a flagged armed service not Mercenaries.

Yeah but generally it's someone else's flag they are fighting under. (though there are French members, as well, and as I understand the officers are French)

They aren't mercenaries for the purposes of the Geneva Conventions, but when speaking colloquially the term isn't necessarily inappropriate.

[qute]No they always fight under the French Flag. They are part of the French armed services.

They are generally made up of non-French citizens, but as they have a path to citizenship via service (the same as the US has for non-citizens serving in the US armed forces) that does not matter.

Which isn't -their- flag, because for the most part they aren't French yet. And incidentally, having a path to citizenship actually fulfills one of the criteria for being a mercenary, in that the compensation is greater than that of regular combatants.

You seriously have no idea what you are talking about. Go tell a Legionnaire they are a mercenary. See how they react to that. As they are by definition part of the Flagged armed services of France, they can not be Mercenaries under the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.